Date:07/11/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/11/07/stories/2009110758680200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Candid talk by the third gender

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: “It is the soul fighting with the physical body… I cannot hide my identity from my soul. That is life… it goes on…” says Laxmi, a hijra in the film Between the Lines – India’s Third Gender while discussing intimate details of her life.

The film deals with the lives of three hijras — Asha, Rambha and Laxmi — and follows photographer Anita Khemka, who tries to explore the hidden hijra subcultures. It shows Ms. Khemka openly discussing intimate details of their lives, castration ceremonies, sexuality, relationships and challenges of overcoming economic dependence and social stigmas.

This 94-minute film, directed by Thomas Wartmann, has won several awards and has been screened at several international film festivals, including River to River Festival, Florence, and Turin Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Torino. Screened at The Adventurers – A Wilderness School here recently, it was a part of the Developmental Film series organised by The Adventurers in association with Breakthrough, New Delhi.

In the discussion that followed after the screening, Renu Appachu from Jagruthi, an NGO that provides health interventions to hijras, said that of 7,000 hijras she has closely worked with, only two were actually born hijras. Ms. Appachu also said that with increasing community-based organisations helping them, hijras have become assertive; they meet openly and do not hesitate to reveal their identity.

“However, we must also realise that they have now turned to begging. For them, employment is a problem. Nobody wants to employ men who want to dress like women!”

Suresh Chitrapu from Karnataka Health Promotion Trust said that the incidence of HIV/AIDS was high among hijras, as health was not one of their priorities. The Adventurers screens developmental films on the first Wednesday of every month.

For more information, contact Nomito Kamdar, The Adventurers, 47/48, 59th Cross, 17th A Main, 5th Block, Rajajinagar, Bangalore 560010, or call 080-23305508, 9449004748.